Intermediate language support for change resilience

A process involving change-resilient intermediate language code for a software product, the process utilizing a device which has at least one logical processor in operable communication with at least one memory, the process comprising the steps of:

• obtaining in the memory a source code;
• and
• generating in the memory from the source code an intermediate language code in which register allocation is execution-ready, the generated intermediate language code containing at least one of the following:
• a heap pointer designation pseudo instruction having a specific location within the generated intermediate language code and at least partially determining a runtime mapping from a position within a method to a set of pointer location(s) that contain pointer(s) during execution into a garbage collection heap;
• an instantiation-lookup pseudo instruction having a specific location within the generated intermediate language code and requesting insertion at the location of machine instruction(s) to access a copy of a shared generic code item which is identified symbolically in the generated intermediate language code.

A system comprising:

• a processor in operable communication with a memory;
• an intermediate language code residing in the memory;
• an executable code also residing in the memory, the intermediate language code and the executable code consistent with a structural correspondence in that each register allocation in the intermediate language code has an identical register allocation in the executable code;
• the intermediate language code and the executable code being further consistent with the structural correspondence in at least two of the following ways:
• a garbage collector probe pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will check for a pending garbage collection;
• an object allocation pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will allocate memory to hold an object of a type specified in the intermediate language code;
• an exception throw pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will throw an exception object that is identified in a register specified in the intermediate language code;
• a virtual-call method pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will make a virtual call to a method that is identified symbolically in the intermediate language code;
• a static-call method pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will make a static call to a method that is identified symbolically in the intermediate language code;
• a tail-call method pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will make a tail call to a method that is identified symbolically in the intermediate language code;
• a runtime-type-direct-call method pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will make a direct call to a method of a runtime type that is identified symbolically in the intermediate language code;
• an address mode modifier pseudo instruction in the intermediate language code corresponds in position to machine instruction(s) in the executable code which upon execution will use a modified address mode to calculate an address using at least one value that is unspecified in the intermediate language code.